>> i talked to ester this morning, and i promise i will not take too long. but i will first share my time with two of my outstanding staff members. mrs. jeanna chow and mr. taylor. >> hi, i am jena chou, and i am a kindergarten teacher. i would like to share a few quick reflections. i remember when alice fong yu didn't have enough student and we had to sell the program. and now we don't have to sell the program, in fact we are all sold out. i remember when students went to chinatown to practice the skills and the culture. and now students travel to china to speak the language and live the culture. and none of this it would be

without liana szeto. i remember her tireless way to be sure of this success. and determined and still has tireless energy and still have the vision. only now she needs to see it in a slightly larger font. i am -- [laughter] i was going to take that out, but my staff said to keep it in. i am so honored to be a part of alice fong yu's past and present. and look forward to the future. many thanks to the students, parent and staff to make alice fong yu such an awesome place. i speak for all of us, truly no place we would rather be. congratulations to the afy school community and to liana

szeto, our fearless leader forever. thank you. [applause] >> hello, good evening, i am jay taylor. i am the student advisor for alice fong yu, i have been there for -- years. it has been a while. i would like to start by saying, quote, whether our action is wholeless or unwholeless, depends on whether the action or deed arises from a disciplined or undisciplined mind. and it's felt that a disciplined mind leads to happiness and an undisciplined mind leads to negative. and i thought about that quote, i think about all the things that this stands for and what these awards and accolades stand

for. it's a testament to her hard work and dream. a lot of times we dream and never see the end. liana has dreamed it and lived it and struggled through it and this is where it is. this is where her dream lies. she told me earlier, this isn't about me. and it never is. it's about or dream and what she instills in all of us. it's about the discipline. it's about the honor. the respect. it's about who she is. and who she wants us to become. as professionals, as people, as leaders, as student leaders, as a generation for all to be able to communicate and touch other people. so we want to thank her for that, and i want to leave you with this. because some people say she's a disciplinarian. so discipline is a symbol of

caring to a child. discipline is guidance. if there is love, there is no such thing as being too tough with a child. this is by betty davis. thank you for your time. [applause] >> thank you. wow. sorry, esther. i may take longer than you planned. wow. i will try to go through this without tears. i have been saying that it's an out-of-body experience from the process of nomination to getting

the phone call. a few months ago. to attending the ceremony at d.c., and sitting across the table from secretary duncan. it's all been just a dream-like. i am really, really abit overwhelmed at times. and it's okay to take my picture off the website now, okay. but seriously, i want to -- please indulge me. i want to share some highlights from my bell award narrative. quote, why would you teach chinese to them? they can barely speak english, she said. with 12 words, a colleague, a fellow professional educator defined my professional path. when i recalled this dismissal

in those two sentences, i am reminded of the thing that (inaudible) in the intervening years. however these 12 words are not only enough to express the challenges that my team and i have faced, but they stand for our triumphs as well. despite a skeptical and hostile environment, we survived. starting in the 80s with just 25 students started as the first chinese public school opened in san francisco in 1985. as i remember, i remember the quote, which would you teach chinese to them? i try to recall that and to what

my colleague said has grown from a small pocket of multi-ethnic students to a student body comprised of many diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. i try to recall how hard we fought, administrator and parents and students and teachers alike. and what we each sacrificed to be be where -- to be where we are today. today i am humbled by my students who excel in two languages and our students are asked to demonstrate their chinese skills. today our graduates go to beijing, china to build bridges

using their skills. today educators can answer the question, why teach chinese to them? by simply responding, why not. i share this very prestigious bell award proudly with my students and my staff. because they are the ones helping me make my dream come true every single day. above all, i remain grateful for the opportunity to do the work that i love. at a place that i helped create. lastly, i like to remind all of us that emersion education takes on many forms in today's educational arena. the focus is sometimes blurred. by different interpretations. or political agendas. i hope that the emersion

education model as conceptualized and exemplified by the alice fong yu community, will help provide standards of all emersion education programs everywhere. thank you very much. [applause] >> we are very honor to recognize michelle kyung, a

teacher at washington high school, and awarded the outstanding teacher of america award by the carl foundation, and here this evening is our award winning teacher, michelle kyung and we would like to present a certificate and ask you to say a few words. [applause] >> happy new year and good evening to superintendent carranza, and new board president rachel norton, sorry, i have been sick today. and vice president fewer, i am erica from the george washington

high school, and i am here to share positive about a teacher at george washington high school. after all the papers are turned in and the scores tabulated. and all the students have graduated. it's wonderful when a student reflects on what makes a teacher great. i believe that a great teacher works with student and makes learning engaging. the ultimate complement for a teacher is when a college student takes the time for the carlson foundation award. i have to say i was pleasantly surprised when i received a call from a man named tim allen, and i asked him, are you the tim allen. and he said yes, i am. but he wasn't, a different tim allen. and he shared that his

foundation wanted to award a teacher for their work. i was pleasantly surprised this was being done. because so many times teachers tirelessly work without recognition. and then he shared that the teacher was michelle kyung. and i knew why they this chosen her. mrs. kyung has been a teacher at washington high school for 13 years. and has a da in history from san francisco state. she's a social studies teacher teaching modern world and ap psychology, and she's a driving force in our ap academy. we are very proud of her at washington high school. and it's excellent when your colleagues can stand up and say wonderful things about you. the principal and five former students and present students. there was a large article in the

paper about her, and one student said that mrs. kyung shows huge role in education, and i look for someone to have impact on me. she educates with fun, she deserving this award because of her passionate input and i would like mr. tim allen to share this award. >> thank you, and good evening board of education and ladies and gentlemen. it is my honor to be here tonight. i get the opportunity to travel throughout california and make presentations at board meetings. and as you can imagine, some of them are quite interesting. but tonight i have a very good feeling about what is going on in this district. and congratulations to you, and what you have done.

just seeing these students and the quality of the work they have learned is a testament to what you are doing in this district. i would like to share with you briefly the history of this award. i think it brings more meaning to what we are doing for teac r teache teachers. the carlson family began a company in the late 70s. and they took 5% of their profits and encouraged their employees to go out and work for not-for-profit in the bay area. and they could come back and ask for grants in support of their charity of choice. in the 90s. the company became a product of a hostile take-over but did not lose the endowment. and the family got together and

said what do we do with this money. and they said let's do something that focused on teaches, and defined further. and let's focus on high schools that are in low-performing schools. and take this one step further and make this honor something that comes from students. the requirements for this award. first the teacher has to teach in difficult situations. low-performing schools. and secondly they must be nominated by a former student that enrolled or graduated from a four-year university. each year i get well over 100 nominations that come from all over california. and talk to literally over the last several years thousand of students about what makes a good teacher. we have refined a lot of information down to about 19

common characteristics of effective teachers. when a nomination comes in from one student, i go out and try to find at least six other students that span the career of that teacher. i do have to become a detective. and i ask questions of the student, and why this teacher was so great. and why this teacher affected their lives through college. last year we had a student who had graduated 25 years before. when a teacher has an effect 25 years following graduation. you know there is something very, very special about that teacher. once i finish the interviews of the students. i go to the colleague and talk to them. and i interview the principal, the person responsible for evaluating that person. before i start talking to the teacher. and by that time i know more

about the teacher than he or she knows about themselves. and i think how they think about their approach of student and what the students have told me about them. and i sometimes get the textbook answers from it the teachers. and when i compare to what the students say, there is not a match. and what the students say about michelle is that she has passion. she knows her subject. and you heard it from what your students said about your school. is that these teachers who make a difference, believe in these students. they believe they are capable of doing it when other people don't believe in them. they see the passion of that teacher, the willingness to care. but that discipline to say, i will not let you fail. and you will do the work to make it happen. and that's what students said about michelle. i would like to read you a brief

comment that summarizes several comments of the students that nominated her. mrs. kyung is an amazing teacher. she loves the subject and made us better. she told interesting stories about history. she was organized and well prepared and never a minute wasted in class. her energy made the class interesting and fun. she encouraged us to express our thoughts and beliefs without judging us. she forced us to form our own beliefs. to required us to express how and why we formed our conclusions. and taught us to think, her influence had dramatic and lasting influence in my life. that summarizes what seven or eight students said about michelle. when we finally decide on the 15

teach teache teachers, i watch them teach and the board decides on five. and we give each of those an 5,000 did, and an additional 5,000 to the school. tonight i am here to present that to the school and michelle. the caveat is that michelle gets to decide how that money is spent. on behalf of the carlson foundation i would like to present michelle and washington high school a check for $5,000, to do whatever michelle want to do with it. [applause] >> i guess i am going to hawai'i. first i want to thank the student who nominated me for this award. i am honored that she remembered me after all of these years. and humbled that she felt that i

impacted her life in a positive way. and i want to thank the other students who spoke on me behalf. because they motivate us to do our best work. every day it's the students who teach me to be the best educator. i want to thank my principal, who is the hardest working principal i know. i am surrounded not only by great students. but a staff and particularly a collaborative department that i can rely on for emotional and academic support. i want to thank tim allen and the carlson family foundation that recognize teachers for their effort and dedication and passion. and thereby helping to improve our educational system. and lastly, i would like to thank the board for allowing us to take a part in this meeting.

[applause] >> commissioner wynns. >> thank you, i want to add my congratulations, and thanks to the foundation. my congratulations to all of you. but i wanted to, if i may, as a point of personal privilege express my thank to liana szeto to all of her years of dedication to alice fong yu, and the school district. i have been there since the beginning too, and i appreciate all you have done and the recognition is richly deserved. thank you. >> i would also like to congratulate the honorees tonight. and i had the pleasure of attending an educator trip to china with liana, and i want

tell everyone that mandarin skills are excellent. and very well deserved. and i want to thank michelle kyung for being an excellent teacher for my son. when he was in her honor roll class, and thank you for awarding her this recognition. thank you. >> thank you, vice president fewer. all right, we will move along to the student delegates' report. >> we want to congratulate everyone and for the reelection for members, and congratulations to szeto and mrs. kyung. we did a gift wrapping at union

square. we offered free gift wrapping and that was the first event and it went well. and we were on the winter break, but excited for the new semester and having revelation food. and having good feedback and it's good and we are glad to have fresh food in our cafete a cafeterias now. >> and we are looking forward to free muni, the program that is starting in march. and this is exciting to see it coming to life. the student advisory council will have their joint retreat this upcoming weekend at january 12 and 13. the retreat is a mid-year check in and goal-setting retreat. it will provide training and knowledge of perspective

programs and leadership on our role. as a committee we will plan and set goals for the remainder of the year. >> thank you. any questions or comments? did you have anything -- okay. okay. we are going to move along then to the parent advisory council report. i believe we have a pac representative in the audience, yes.

[speaking foreign language] >> good evening, everyone. i am new member of the parent advisory council. i have two daughters who attend francisco and ewald respectively. [speaking foreign language] >> the role of the parent advisory council, pac, is to

represent parent voices and perspectives to inform education policy discussions. and this report highlights our project activities for january. to engage families in two important initiatives. history and practices and the plan. [speaking foreign language] >> the pac welcomes new commissioner matthew haney and congratulates sandra fewer, and rachel norton, and jill wynns on

their re-election to the board of education. we look forward to working with you all. i am going to talk a little bit about restorative practices. the pac continues to receive requests to conduct community conversations regarding restorative practices from both school staff and our community partners. this morning the pac's restorative practices team will lead to many conversations.

the first one will be with parent leaders from mission (inaudible) who are primarily spanish speaking and representatives in the school district. the second conversations will be with parent representatives from the second district parent teacher association.

we recognize the importance of including our community partners in the implementation process of restorative practices. to leverage resources that are at the schools, and to bring restorative practices in schools across this district. thank you. >> hi, i have a son at john colonel, and i want to talk about community briefing. pac begins ongoing (inaudible) to bring s